Hiking The Pothole Trail In Interstate State Park

For the past couple of weeks I have been sharing photos and stories of our families staycation to Osceola Wisconsin.  In my first post, we played in Cascade Falls and then in my second post we took a scenic train ride.  Today, I'm going to show some fun we had the next day in a nearby park called Interstate State Park.

Interstate State Park are two separate state parks on the Wisconsin/Minnesota Border;  that is why it has such a strange name.  The St. Croix River separates the two parks.  On the Minnesota side is a short fun trail I thought the grandchildren would enjoy.  It is most known for its unique potholes, but it also has gorgeous views of the St. Croix river canyon.

The park was just a short drive from our hotel in Osceola.  The grandchildren had some fun waiting with grandpa by the car as their mom and dad were busy checking out.

The park entrance for the Minnesota side is located in Taylor's Falls.  They have the cutest riverwalk on the way to the park of which you will see more of at the end of this post.

Leave it to young Atticus to find a stick right away!

The views on this trail are beautiful.  

There were lots of steps to climb, so mom had to carry baby Lazarus in a sling.

The Pothole Trail is perfect for little kids for it's a short little hike but has so many twists and turns, ups and downs, and a Little Rock climbing that kids just love.

There are over eighty potholes on the Minnesota side of the state.  It is the largest concentration of glacial potholes in the world!  They all differ in size.  Some are only a few feet wide and deep and others can be as large as ten feet wide and sixty feet deep.

Pictured below is an example of a glacial pothole.  Potholes are formed when sand or gravel are caught in whirlpools and swirled with such force that they would drill a hole straight down into the rock.  Larger rocks caught in the hole would polish the rock smooth.  

In addition to the fascinating potholes on this trail, there are also lots of great rock formations.  The grandkids found this large rock wall so interesting and each kid had to have their own photo taken in front of it.

There was a narrow crack in the wall that the kiddos could crawl through one side and exit out the other.  They thought that was pretty cool.

There is a sight-seeing cruise you can take down the St. Croix river.  We have never done it, but it is on our bucket list!

We saw some canoeists floating down the river.

The park had a selfie station set up on one of the viewing decks.  I always appreciate it when parks do this because it's always so hard to get a photo of the entire family.

I didn't bring my walking sticks so some parts of the trail I left up to the more agile ones to explore while I waited on top.

Baby Lazarus had enough of the sling by now and wanted to get out and walk himself.

After hiking the Pothole Trail, we headed back do the riverwalk back to our vehicles.  The kids found these lounge chairs fun.

They had a couple of fun photo cutout boards in this spot.  The grandkids always love them!

The riverwalk goes under the busy bridge/highway.  The grandkids had fun climbing under the bridge.

We saw a cute little covered bridge and decided to see where it went.  To our surprise, it took us up into town and right back to our vehicle!  That was so funny.  It looks like it would be going on a hidden trail into the woods, but it just leads to a lot of stairs going back into town.

But there is a gorgeous view of the St. Croix river from the bridge area, so it was all worth it!

And that is all of our staycation to Osceola.  Next week I will wrap things up with some other things we did the week our kids were visiting and then I'll begin my Door County post.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

See These Posts for More Things To Do in the Osceola Area:

Fun in Osceola Wisconsin

A Scenic Train Ride on the Osceola Railway

A Candlelight Walk in Interstate Park & Other Valentine's Weekend Highlights 

Exploring the Forest, Gorge, and Glacial Potholes of Interstate Park